There’s a simple way to improve the state of your finances: stop spending your money. But of course, this is much easier said than done. While, of course, there are things that we need to buy, the real challenge is to stop spending the money that we could leave in our bank account, if we had just a bit of self-control. If you just hope that you’ll stop spending, then you won’t. It takes discipline and focus and a conscious effort. Below, we take a look at a few ways to limit the amount that you spend.

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Beware of Your Triggers

Part of the reason we spend more than we like is that we’re somehow “triggered” into spending more. We might have a vague desire to spend less, but by the end of the week, realize that we’ve spent 50% more than the budget. So what happened? Unavoidable expenses can come up, sure, but it’s more likely that the spending could have easily been controlled. It’s all about being aware of the things that end up costing you money. Do you go shopping when you’ve had a bad day? Are you lured to eat in a restaurant when you smell their offerings? Both these things, and more, can be easily avoided.

Limited Options

One of the reasons why we spend so much cash is, well, because we can. We’re effectively walking around with all our cash in our pocket, in the form of our credit cards and so on, so when we see something that we want, there’s not really any reason why we can’t. But what if there was a way to reduce the amount that we can spend? There is — you can get a prepaid card. With this, you can top up the card with the amount of money you want to spend for the week. Once it has gone, it has gone! Green Dot Prepaid Card reviews typically mention how easy they are to use, so look at picking one up. You might just be surprised how much you save, just by limiting the amount of cash that you can spend.

Decline Invitations

It’s all good and well doing your own thing when it comes to saving money. But sometimes, we find that other people are all too happy to spend it for us. It is nice to be invited to dinners and birthday parties and so on, but there’s no getting around the fact that they can add up to a pretty penny. The next time you’re invited to something, think about how much it’ll affect your finances before saying yes. If it’s too much, then you can pass on this one — there will be other social opportunities.

Stay Focused

Money is a trap — we’ll eventually crack unless we’re focused. So make sure you stay focused! Watching your bank balance move up will help on this front, as will spending some time to reaffirm why you’re making the effort. You won’t regret the changes you’ve incorporated into your life.